Clare O'Gara

Clare’s research explores digital identity formation and self-presentation, especially as it manifests through user-generated cultural production, performance, and embodiment. Clare also studies micro-celebrity, the influencer industry, queer/trans identity, and sports media.

clareogara.com

Education

• M.A. — University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2024 — Communication Arts, Media and Cultural Studies
• B.A. — Smith College, 2022 — English, Film and Media Studies, Poetry
  • Thesis: “Camera-Penned, User-Generated: Searching for Self in YouTube Video Essays”

Courses

• CA250 Survey of Contemporary Media, 2024-2025
• CA359 Sports Media, Spring 2024
• CA100 Introduction to Speech Composition, Fall 2023
• CA155 Introduction to Digital Media Production, 2022-2023

Publications

• O’Gara, C (2024, September 1). “’This Is Not a Performance’: Coming-Out Videos, LGBTQ+ Microcelebrity, and the Tenuous Rise of New Queer YouTube.” Camera Obscura. (39:116) pp. 189–218. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/02705346-11207867

Service

• UT Press Liaison, Velvet Light Trap, 2024-
• Graduate Student Organization Representative, 2023-2024
• Editorial Board Member, Velvet Light Trap, 2022-
• Invited Voter, “The Best Video Essays of 2023,” Sight and Sound
• Invited Voter, “The Best Video Essays of 2024,” Sight and Sound